Public Animal No 9 (Live 1972)

The song "Public Animal No. 9 (Live 1972)" by Alice Cooper is a raw, rebellious track from the iconic School’s Out album, capturing the band’s early shock rock energy. The song, with its gritty lyrics about youthful defiance—cheating on math tests and carving words into desks—paints a vivid picture of teenage delinquency. In a 2025 post on Fridays With Alice, the song is described as defining the Alice Cooper persona as "every parent’s worst nightmare," embodying a character destined for the "state penitentiary." The live 1972 performance, notably at the Beat Club on November 25, 1972, as shared on YouTube, showcases the band’s theatrical intensity, with Cooper’s raspy vocals and the band’s tight instrumentation. The track’s rebellious spirit resonated with fans, as seen in a 2024 Reddit post on r/RockTheSub, where a user praised its rarity and energy, saying, “Sing it, Coop!”

Another layer of trivia comes from the song’s context within the School’s Out album, which was a conceptual triumph, reaching No. 2 on the U.S. charts and No. 4 in the UK, as noted on Fridays With Alice. The album’s themes of high school antics and rebellion are crystallized in "Public Animal No. 9," which evokes memories of class clowns or rebels, as the site suggests listeners might picture a specific person from their school days when hearing it. Cooper himself, in a quote from the same source, reflected on the album’s impact, saying, “All those kids turned out to be doctors, lawyers, and politicians; they all ended up being okay. It’s just art, but sometimes art really scares people.” This highlights how the song, while shocking at the time, was part of Cooper’s broader satirical commentary on youth and society.

Alice Cooper, born Vincent Damon Furnier on February 4, 1948, in Detroit, Michigan, began his musical journey in Phoenix, Arizona, after moving there in his early teens. As detailed in his Britannica biography, Cooper’s career kicked off in 1964 when, at 16, he formed a band called the Earwigs with high school track teammates for a local talent show. Initially miming Beatles songs, they won the show and soon learned to play instruments, renaming themselves the Spiders. Inspired by bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Yardbirds, they performed regularly around Phoenix, with a giant black spider web as their backdrop, as noted on Alice Cooper’s official history page. By 1968, they became Alice Cooper, a name Furnier adopted after a random, twisted choice for its innocent yet macabre vibe, as explained on IMDb.

The band’s big break came in 1969 when Frank Zappa signed them to his Straight Records label after a chaotic audition, as recounted on Wikipedia. Relocating to Detroit, they found a receptive audience for their provocative style, honed under producer Bob Ezrin. Their third album, Love It to Death (1971), yielded the hit “I’m Eighteen,” and by 1972, School’s Out cemented their fame. The band’s theatrical shock rock, featuring props like guillotines and snakes, horrified parents but won legions of fans, as noted in a 2015 Saturday Evening Post article. After the band split in 1975, Furnier continued as a solo artist, legally adopting the name Alice Cooper and releasing Welcome to My Nightmare.

Fans can connect with Alice Cooper through his official Facebook, Instagram, and X accounts, where he shares tour updates and career highlights. The fan site SickThingsUK offers detailed resources, including tablature for "Public Animal No. 9," while Fridays With Alice provides weekly insights and has Sheryl Cooper’s endorsement, as noted on their site. Fan communities also thrive on platforms like Fridays With Alice’s Facebook group and Reddit’s r/AliceCooper, where Zoo Freaks can join discussions about Cooper’s enduring legacy.